"This is a very exciting opportunity for us to see the interaction of our suit prototype with externally developed state-of-the-art equipment" Gernot Groemer, the Aouda.X project manager, comments on this test series, "we will also have people from the European Astronaut Center/Crew Medical Support Office taking a closer look at the suit system." One of the main test objectives for ESA will be a series of experiments of the ESTEC ExoHab mobile lab, an elaborate suite of instruments focussing on geophysical analysis of the environment.
These tests will be preceeded by a two day field test on Austria's highest mountain, the Grossglockner, where ground penetrating radar and subsurface soundign with geoacoustic methods will be studied. This session will be held near the Pasterze glacier where the team expects permafrost regions to provide an excellent opportunity to have a first training session for both the suit testers as well as the operations core staff.
PolAres spacesuit simulator to be tested during ESA field campaign
25.-30. September 2009
From 25th to 30th of September, in conjunction with the National Planetary Platform graduate autumn school, organized by the Netherlands Society for Aerospace - NVR will team up with the European Space Agency to test equipment in a planetary sciences analogue environment at the german Eifel region near Mendig. The Austrian Space Forum will join this field campaign to run integrated tests with it's Aouda.X spacesuit simulator.
Photo: A.Koehler
PolAres Schedule Update
15. June 2012: Deadline Announcement of Opportunity MARS2013 25.-27. Oct. 2012: 3rd Conference on Terrestial Mars Analogues 01 - 28. February 2013: Morocco Mars Simulation
Between 01 - 28. February 2013, the Austrian Space Forum will conduct an integrated Mars analog field simulation in the northern Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco. Directed by a Mission Support Center in Austria, a small field crew will conduct experiments preparing for future human Mars missions mainly in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology, life sciences and other.
This field mission is supported by the Ibn-Battuta-Center at the University of Marrakesh, Morocco. The Austrian Space Forum now solicitates proposals to be reviewed by a selection panel. The deadline for submissions is 15. June 2012, the announcement of the successful experiments will be released on 15. July 2012.
Detail
The analysis of Mars analogue environments on Earth is of paramount importance for the interpretation of the data from past, present and future orbital and landed missions, as well as mission planning (both robotic and human). Sedimentary environments in particular attract strong interest because they can retain the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental history of the planet and under the right conditions may harbour fossil or present life signatures.
Date: 25. - 27. October 2012
Location: Conference Centre of the Hotel Meridien N'Fis at Marrakech, Morocco Organization: European Space Agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana, International Association of Sedimentologits, Ibn Battuta Centre, IRSPS, Universite Cadi Ayyad.
Between 01 - 28. February 2013, the Austrian Space Forum will conduct an integrated Mars analog field simulation in the northern Sahara near Erfoud, Morocco. Directed by a Mission Support Center in Austria, a small field crew will conduct experiments preparing for future human Mars missions mainly in the fields of engineering, planetary surface operations, astrobiology, geophysics/geology, life sciences and other.
